Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray could play three matches in four days after rain delays match against Marin Cilic

Andy Murray is facing the prospect of fighting his way through three matches
in four days if he wants to reach his first Wimbledon final after his
fourth-round match against Marin Cilic was halted by rain on Monday.

Frustrated figure: Andy Murray during his fourth round Wimbledon match against Marin Cilic which has been postponed until TuesdayPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Simon Briggs

8:09PM BST 02 Jul 2012

While Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic played on Wimbledon's Centre Court, where the roof insulated them from the high risk of rain interruptions, the decision to put Murray on Court No 1 for only the second time in four years left him significantly disadvantaged.

Murray’s momentum was halted just at the time when he seemed to have established his superiority over Cilic. The scoreboard stood at at 7-5, 3-1 to the home favourite when the rain started, at around 4.10pm.

It did not stop for the rest of the day, which means that only 11 of the 16 singles matches scheduled on Monday could be completed. Strangely, though, the Wimbledon authorities declined to shift one of those five unfinished matches on to Centre Court after the conclusion of Djokovic’s tie, even though there were three open hours before the Merton Council’s curfew of 11pm came into play.

Murray has been scheduled to return to the same court on Tuesday with the weather again likely to be an issue. “There are problems associated with moving matches, including stewarding and the wish not to have another late night,” said a Wimbledon spokesman. “It all conspires to suggest that the best option is to come back tomorrow.

“This is traditionally a daytime, outdoor event. We have had four late nights already. We could go on to five or six. We have to draw the line somewhere and this is it.”

The interruption can only help Cilic, who survived a 5 hr 31 min marathon against Sam Querrey on Saturday, and will thus be grateful for a chance to rest his legs and come back fresher.

There are worrying echoes here of Tim Henman’s notorious semi-final against Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. In that match, rain blocked Henman’s charge after he had romped through the third set 6-0, and sent his opponent deep into “Bad Goran” territory. Ivanisevic, who was commentating on his compatriot and protégé Cilic on Monday, regrouped overnight and went on to win the title.

Should something similar happen this year, the Wimbledon order-of-play subcommittee will take a pummelling. It is hard to imagine any of the other three grand slams bending over backwards to show impartiality, despite the fact that it will hinder their best player’s chances.

Even if you consider the spectators’ interests rather than the players, Murray’s match was more appealing than the all-Serbian contest between

Djokovic and Viktor Troicki, which Djokovic raced through in just 90 minutes. As Greg Rusedski put it: “A real shame Murray wasn’t on Centre Court - a little mistake from the organisers. We need to give him every advantage possible.”

Perhaps it was inevitable, once the All England Club had commissioned drought-resistant planting schemes this year, that the tournament would be hit by bad weather. There is more rain forecast on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as on Friday.

What will happen on Tuesday is anyone’s guess. Murray’s match has been brought forward to the top of Court No 1 schedule, ahead of the women’s quarter-finals, and the start time has also come forward from 1pm to noon. Assuming he can close out his win, his next opponent will come from the match between Juan Martin del Potro and David Ferrer. Things could pan out favourably for Murray if he gets on and off quickly, while the No 7 and No 9 seeds end up locked in battle for hours.

On the other hand, there is a worst-case scenario in which del Potro and Ferrer are able to complete their match - which has been drawn first on Centre Court - while the weather is so bad that no play on the unroofed courts is possible. Djokovic was grateful to have made his way through without alarms. Especially as his next opponent - either Richard Gasquet or Florian Mayer - has plenty more work to do after only a set and three games of that match could be played.

“Obviously it’s good for me to finish and to have a day of practice [on Tuesday] and get ready for the next challenge,” Djokovic said. Asked if he was surprised that Murray had not been granted that Centre Court privilege, he replied: “I think ITF [the International Tennis Federation] and ATP [the Association of Tennis Professionals] are making sure that all the players are represented equally.”

From what we have seen so far, Murray’s match against Cilic bore similarities to the one against Marcos Baghdatis on Saturday. Again, both men started nervously, feeling reluctant to go for too many extravagant winners. But Murray’s superior return of serve began to tell as he broke late in the first set, and then gathered confidence in a highly impressive first few games in the second.

When the rain began, he had moved to 40-0 on his own serve and looked to have one foot in the quarter-finals. That footing has now been dislodged, for the moment at least.